We revisit the classic problem of the stability of drops and jets held by surface tension, while regarding the compressibility of bulk fluids and spatial dimensions as free parameters. By mode analysis, it is shown that there exists a critical compressibility above which the drops (and discs) become unstable for a spherical perturbation. For a given value of compressibility (and of the surface tension and the density at equilibrium), this instability criterion provides a minimal radius below which the drop cannot be in stable equilibrium. According to the existence of the above unstable mode of the drop, which corresponds to a homogeneous perturbation of a cylindrical jet, the dispersion relation of Rayleigh–Plateau instability for cylinders drastically changes. In particular, we identify another critical compressibility above which the homogeneous unstable mode is predominant. The analysis is carried out for non-relativistic and relativistic perfect fluids, the self-gravity of which is ignored.

Gravitational–capillary waves, arising in a system of thick layers of two aggregate states of a substance, are studied using the example of water and its vapour. Their initially flat interface is in hydrostatic and thermodynamic equilibrium at atmospheric pressure and the corresponding saturation temperature $100\,^{\circ }\text{C}$, provided that a balance is maintained for heat fluxes transported through immovable phases in the process of heat conduction. From the problem of linear stability for small perturbations, estimation relations for their damping coefficient and eigenfrequency shift are obtained, including the factors of viscosities of the media and phase transition. The first two contributions, proportional to the kinematic viscosity of the liquid and the square root of the kinematic viscosity of its vapour, respectively, are consistent, accurate to additionally accounted for capillary forces, with the result of Dore’s analysis, which is a development of the weakly viscous Lamb theory for ‘deep water’. Numerical calculations have shown that, with increasing wavelength, the accuracy of the proposed approximation increases, especially for the wave damping coefficient, and the contribution of the viscosity of the light phase increases in percentage terms. As for the phase transition effect, which was previously overestimated using the quasi-equilibrium approximation, it remains insignificant at the level of heat fluxes acceptable in the model of thick layers of homogeneous media. The factor of thermocapillarity is found to be very weak; it becomes qualitatively noticeable only on the background of disappearing heating. Here, together with the factor of dependence of the saturation temperature on the phase pressure, it determines a non-zero correction to the wave damping coefficient.

Self-preservation analyses of the equations for the mean temperature and the second-order temperature structure function on the axis of a slightly heated turbulent round jet are exploited in an attempt to develop an analytical expression for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}$, the mean dissipation rate of $\overline{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{2}}/2$, where $\overline{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{2}}$ is the temperature variance. The analytical approach follows that of Thiesset et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 748, 2014, R2) who developed an expression for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}_{k}$, the mean turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, using the transport equation for $\overline{(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}u)^{2}}$, the second-order velocity structure function. Experimental data show that complete self-preservation for all scales of motion is very well satisfied along the jet axis for streamwise distances larger than approximately 30 times the nozzle diameter. This validation of the analytical results is of particular interest as it provides justification and confidence in the analytical derivation of power laws representing the streamwise evolution of different physical quantities along the axis, such as: $\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}$, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}$, $R_{U}$, $R_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E9}}$ (all representing characteristic length scales), the mean temperature excess $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E9}_{0}$, the mixed velocity–temperature moments $\overline{u\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{2}}$, $\overline{v\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{2}}$ and $\overline{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{2}}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}$. Simple models are proposed for $\overline{u\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{2}}$ and $\overline{v\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{2}}$ in order to derive an analytical expression for $A_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}}$, the prefactor of the power law describing the streamwise evolution of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}$. Further, expressions are also derived for the turbulent Péclet number and the thermal-to-mechanical time scale ratio. These expressions involve global parameters that are most likely to be influenced by the initial and/or boundary conditions and are therefore expected to be flow dependent.

New solutions of the Boussinesq equations describe the onset of convection as well as the development of collimated bipolar jets near a point source of both heat and gravity. Stability, bifurcation, and asymptotic analyses of these solutions reveal details of jet formation. Convection (with l cells) evolves from the rest state at the Rayleigh number Ra = Racr = (l − 1)l(l + 1)(l + 2). Bipolar (l = 2) flow emerges at Ra = 24 via a transcritical bifurcation: Re = 7(24 − Ra)/(6 + 4Pr), where Re is a convection amplitude (dimensionless velocity on the symmetry axis) and Pr is the Prandtl number. This flow is unstable for small positive values of Re but becomes stable as Re exceeds some threshold value. The high-Re stable flow emerges from the rest state and returns to the rest state via hysteretic transitions with changing Ra. Stable convection attains high speeds for small Pr (typical of electrically conducting media, e.g. in cosmic jets). Convection saturates due to negative ‘feedback’: the flow mixes hot and cold fluids thus decreasing the buoyancy force that drives the flow. This ‘feedback’ weakens with decreasing Pr, resulting in the development of high-speed convection with a collimated jet on the axis. If swirl is imposed on the equatorial plane, the jet velocity decreases. With increasing swirl, the jet becomes annular and then develops flow reversal on the axis. Transforming the stability problem of this strongly non-parallel flow to ordinary differential equations, we find that the jet is stable and derive an amplitude equation governing the hysteretic transitions between steady states. The results obtained are discussed in the context of geophysical and astrophysical flows.

Using the Hopf–Doering–Constantin decomposition, we derive upper bounds on the vertical heat flux in closed containers. It is found that the original bound of Doering & Constantin (1996) for Nusselt number as a function of Rayleigh number, Nu [ges ] √R/4, holds, at the very least, asymptotically as R → ∞ under reasonably diverse experimental settings.

The Brownian motion of a nanoparticle in fluid depends on the molecular forces acting on it. Because of the small size and the high frequency, it is difficult to make experimental measurements of these forces. In the present work, Brownian forces acting on a nanoparticle are numerically investigated with the molecular dynamics method. Some new phenomena are disclosed. (i) The probability distribution shows that the Brownian forces conform to the Gaussian distribution and self-similarity of the probability distribution is also found for different $1/Kn$ numbers which are characterized with the particle radius and the mean path $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$ of the gas molecule $(1/Kn=R/\unicode[STIX]{x1D706})$. (ii) The frequency spectrum distribution of the Brownian force is not a white noise spectrum, which is different from the assumption commonly used in Langevin model. The preferential frequency of the Brownian force is found. (iii) The size effect relating to the Brownian forces is not monotonically varying with $1/Kn=R/\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$ and is also found. It first increases and then decreases after it reaches the maximum value at $1/Kn\approx 250$. The variation process for $1/Kn<250$ observed in the present work has not been reported in previous research to date.

In this paper we describe flow through a porous medium in a two-dimensional rectangular cavity driven by differential heating of the impermeable lower surface. The upper surface is held at constant pressure and at a constant temperature equal to the minimum temperature of the lower surface, while the sidewalls are impermeable and thermally insulated. Numerical results for general values of the Darcy–Rayleigh number and the cavity aspect ratio are compared with theoretical predictions for the small Darcy–Rayleigh number limit where the temperature field is conduction-dominated, and with a boundary-layer theory for the large Darcy–Rayleigh number limit where convection is significant. In the latter case a horizontal boundary layer near the lower surface conveys fluid to the hot end of the cavity where it rises to the upper surface in a narrow plume. Predictions are made of the vertical heat transfer through the cavity.

We present analytical predictions of the depth and onset slope of the steady surface flow of a cohesive granular material in an inclined channel. The rheology of Jop, Forterre & Pouliquen (Nature, vol. 441, 2006, pp. 727–730) is used, assuming co-axiality between the stress and strain-rate tensors, and a coefficient of friction dependent on the strain rate through the dimensionless inertial number $I$. This rheological law is augmented by a constant stress representing cohesion. Our analysis does not rely on a precise $\mu (I)$ functional, but only on its asymptotic power law in the limit of vanishing strain rates. Assuming a unidirectional flow, the Navier–Stokes equations can be solved explicitly to yield parametric equations of the iso-velocity lines in the plane perpendicular to the flow. Two types of channel walls are considered: rough and smooth, depicting walls whose friction coefficient is respectively larger or smaller than that of the flowing material. The steady flow starts above a critical onset angle and consists of a sheared zone confined between a surface plug flow and a deep dead zone. The details of the flow are discussed, depending on dimensionless parameters relating the static friction coefficient, cohesion strength of the material, incline angle, wall friction, and channel width. The depths of the flow at the centre of the channel and at the walls are calculated by a force balance on the flowing material. The critical angle for the onset of the flow is also calculated, and is found to be strongly dependent on the channel width, in agreement with experimental results on heap stability and in rotating drums. Our results predict the important conclusion that a cohesive material always starts to flow for an incline angle lower than 90° between smooth walls, whereas in a narrow enough channel with rough walls, it may not flow, even if the channel is inclined vertically.

The stability of a horizontal shear current under surface gravity waves is investigated on the basis of the Rayleigh equation. As the differential operator is non-normal, a standard modal analysis is not effective in capturing the transient growth of a perturbation. The representation of the stream function by a suitable basis of bi-orthogonal eigenfunctions allows one to determine the maximum growth rate of a perturbation. It turns out that, in the considered range of parameters, such a growth rate can be two orders of magnitude larger than the maximum eigenvalue obtained by standard modal analysis.

This paper considers the general problem of laminar, steady, horizontal, Oseen flow at large distances upstream and downstream of a two-dimensional body which is represented as a line source of horizontal or vertical momentum, or as a line heat source or heat dipole. The fluid is assumed to be incompressible, diffusive, viscous and stably stratified. The analysis is focused on the general properties of the horizontal velocity component, as well as on explicit calculation of the horizontal velocity profiles and disturbance stream-function fields for varying degrees of stratification. For stable stratifications, the flow fields for all four types of singularities exhibit the common feature of multiple recirculating rotors of finite thicknesses, which leads to an alternating jet structure both upstream and downstream for the horizontal velocity component and to leewaves downstream in the overall flow. The self-similar formulae for the velocity, temperature and pressure at very large distances upstream and downstream are also derived and compared with the Oseen solutions.